4: Materials and processes

different types of paper have different tactile qualities and associations

colours have physical, psychological and cultural impacts – different colour schemes for the same designs can give radically different effects

different printing processes affect way different types of paper absorb and enhance different colours and types of ink differently

books do not need to be bound as linear narrative, they can be collated in different to explore meanings and concepts to challenge readers as active participants rather than passive recipients of information.

For this Assignment I chose a book on the oil industry in 1970s as the basis for a board game ‘The Greed Game’ that challenges players to explore the complex motivations and impacts of the oil boom of the 1970s, and its ultimate contribution to the ‘terrorist threats’ of today.

I narrowed down the content of the book to focus on four countries: Iran (where I had also been at the end of the 1970s when this book was written), Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. My research covered both historical development and background to the countries, documentary videos on You Tube (which I also used as the inspiration for drawings and illustrations, photos on the Internet and development and political updates on the countries from organisations like United Nations Development Reports, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Al Jazeera website.